Fire extinguishing apparatus



Oct. 3, 1950 c. w. FRESE EIAL 2,524,047

FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS Filed May 7, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN RS CA/PL MF/i THOMAS .Sc0

ATTORN EY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 o 1950 c. w. FRESE EIAL FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS Filed May 7, 1946 INVENTORS 5r Hm. mm. m W: A m

Patented Oct. 3, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS Carl W. Frese, New York, N. Y., and Thomas P. Scott, Caldwell, N. 1., assignors to Specialties Development Corporation, Belleville, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application May 7, 1946, Serial No. 667,920

Claims. (c1. 169- 4) The present invention relates to fire extinguishing apparatus, and particularly apparatus for extinguishing highly inflammable fluids, such as oils, gasoline, lacquers, solvents, etc. which are usually confined in tanks, pans, pools, basins or other containers or receptacles.

Heretofore such fires have been extinguished by carbon dioxide snow forming devices positioned adjacent or above the brim of the tank or the like and adapted to blanket and smother fires occurring in the tank. The difficulty with such snow forming devices is that they are rather bulk thereby obstructing ready access to the tank, particularly where a number of such devices are required to provide an effective blanket. Also, where such devices are of minimum size to produce a blanket rich in snow, the velocity of the snow and gas discharged is relatively high and has a tendency to fan the fire.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide improved fire extinguishing apparatus for tanks and the like, which is not subject to the foregoing difiiculties and disadvantages.

Another object is to provide apparatus of the foregoing character which is compact in construction and can be readily installed about tanks without obstructing acc ss to the same.

Another object is to provide apparatus comprising snow forming devices which produce a fire extinguishing blanket having a large area, thereby making it possible to use fewer such devices than heretofore required for installations of equal size.

Another object is to provide apparatus for producing a fire extinguishing blanket comprising a mixture of carbon dioxide snow and gas having a high uniform density and being adapted to penetrate combustion products and reach the surface of the flaming liquid in the tank.

Another object is to provide apparatus of the type described for discharging a large quantity of carbon dioxide at a high rate but at a low velocity to minimize fanning of the fire.

A further object is to provide fire extinguishing apparatus of the foregoing character which is simple and inexpensive, and is more efllcient than apparatus heretofore employed for similar W 'D B Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious upon an understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described, or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employment of the invention in practice.

A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description and is shown in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification,

wherein: 4

Figure 1 is a schematic elevational view of a fire extinguishing system, illustrating an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic plan view of the system shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a side perspective view of a carbon dioxide discharge device used in the system.

Figure 4 is a rear perspective view of the device shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the device shown in Figures 3 and 4, the device being shown connected to an upper end portion of a tank.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 on Figure 5.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a. tank I0 is shown which is illustrative of a receptacle or container for highly inflammable fluids, such as oils, gasoline, lacquers, solvents or the like, constituting a fire hazard. The tank I is protected by a fire extinguishing system which comprises a plurality of snow forming discharge heads H, four being shown by way of example, which are attached to the container adjacent the brim thereof; a

source of carbon dioxide stored under pressure in a. container I2; and pipes for connecting each of the discharge heads II to the container II, the latter being provided with a discharge release valve H or the like.

The discharge heads H, as shown, are positioned to discharge a stream of carbon dioxide snow and gas across the top of a tank or the like which is normally open, but it will be understood that the discharge heads could be positioned inside of a covered tank, at or above the liquid level. Likewise, the discharge heads could be mounted adjacent pans, spillways, doorways of spray booths or other places where fire hazards exist.

A discharge device II in accordance with the invention is illustrated in detail in Figures 3 to 6,

- and comprises generally a lower section 20 serving as snow forming means and an upper sec tion 2| serving as means for distributing the snow. The upper and lower sections may be formed integrally or may be separate members secured toether as shown.

The lower section 20 comprises a receptacle 22 in the form of a bowl-shaped shell having an outwardly extending central spud 24 formed with a bore 25 to provide means for securing a carbon dioxide supply pipe to the receptacle 22. The receptacle has an inwardly projecting central portion 26 provided with a bore 21 in communication with the bore 25 for connecting a nozzle 28 having a central orifice 29 adapted to direct a jet of carbon dioxide under pressure upwardly and having radially extending orifices 3|! adapted to direct jets of carbon dioxide towards the inner surface of an outer wall 3| of the receptacle.

The receptacle has an end wall 32 and an opening 34 opposite thereto, the wall 32 constituting a bottom wall and the opening 34 facing upwardly when the receptacle is positioned as shown in the drawing.

The lower section 20 further comprises a side wall portion 35 above the receptacle 22 (Figures 3 and 5) which has a flange 35 adapted to be secured in any suitable manner to a flange 31 of the tank l (Figures and 6). posite the wall 35, the lower section is provided with a recess 39 (Figure 4) forreceiving the upper section 2| as about to be described. A weep hole 38 is formed in the wall 32 for draining condensed vapors from the bowl.

The upper section 2| has a dependin wall 40 shaped to fit into the recess 39 and base top wall 4| joined to the wall 40 by a curved portion 43. The top wall 4| is provided with an edge portion 42 co-extensive with the flange 36. The edge portion 42 and flange 36 are constructed and arranged to provide a slit-like opening 44 for dirooting carbon dioxide across the tank. As illustrated, the opening extends about the discharge head for about 210 to form a fan-shaped stream of carbon dioxide.

In order to secure the upper and lower sections, they are provided with threaded aligned apertures (not shown) for receiving screws 45.

In operation, when carbon dioxide is conducted to the discharge head and enters the nozzle 28, the carbon dioxide is directed through the orifices 29 and 30 in expanding jets. The jets leaving the orifice 30 are directed against the outer wall 3| of the receptacle 22 and the major portions thereof are guided rearwardly towards the end wall 32 and are then deflected forwardly and upwardly through the opening 34 of the receptacle to provide a uniformly distributed, low velocity mixture of carbon dioxide snow particles.

The stream of snow then enters the upper portion of the discharge head'where the walls 35 and 4B cooperate to form a nozzle like section or short horn providing for the further reduction in velocity of the stream. The stream then strikes the curved portion 43 and the top wall 4| of the upper sections and is deflected towards the opening through which it is directed across the tank ID in fan-shaped form having an angle of divergence of at least 180". By reason oi this wide angle of the stream, a large area of the tank is covered by each of the heads to provide a dense impenetrable blanket of carbon dioxide which is highly effective to smother any combustion of the contents of the tank.

The carbon dioxide passing through the orifice 29 is directed against the curved portion 43 and the top wall 4| in the form of a high velocity jet which serves to remove snow particles tending to adhere to the portion 43 and the wall 4|. In this manner, the device clears itself and cannot become clogged by the formation of snow therein.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the present invention provides an improved system for extinguishing tank fires. The snow- At the side opforming devices are adapted to be mounted adjacent tanks or the like in such a manner that they do not obstruct the tank. Also, these de vices form a stream rich in carbon dioxide snow which is highly eiiective for extinguishing fires.

As various changes, may bemade in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts herein, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention and without sacrificing any of its advantages, it is to be understood that all matter herein is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in any limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

The lower bowl-shaped section of the discharge device illustrated herein, constitutes the subject matter of our copending application for United States Letters Patent, Serial Number 664,576, filed April 24, 1946.

We claim:

1. The combination of a carbon dioxide snow forming bowl having an upwardly facing discharge opening and a drainage aperture in the lower portion thereof, nozzle means having apertures for directing carbon dioxide radially outwardly towards the inner wall of the bowl, a substantially semi-circular flange at the opening of said bowl, and a substantially semi-circular deflector plate overlying the opening and said flange and being spaced from said flange to cooperate therewith to form a slit-like passageway for distributing the snow in a fan-shaped sheet having an angle of divergence of about 180, said nozzle means including an axially extending oriflee for discharging carbon dioxide against said plate for preventing the accumulation of snow thereon.

2. The combination of a carbon dioxide snow forming bowl having a discharge opening, nozzle means having apertures for directing carbon dioxide radially outwardly towards the inner wall of the bowl, a substantially semi-circular flange at the opening of said bowl, and a substantially semicircular deflector plate overlying the opening and said flange and being spaced from said flange to cooperate therewith to form a slit-like passageway for d stnibuting the snow in a fan-shaped sheet having an angle of divergence of about 180,

said nozzle means including an axially extending orifice for discharging carbon dioxide against said plate for preventing the accumulation of snow cooperate therewith to form a. passageway for distributing the snow in a fan-shaped sheet, said nozzle means including an axially extending oriflce for d scharging carbon dioxide against said plate for preventing the accumulation of snow thereon.

4. The combination of a carbon dioxide snow forming receptacle having a discharge opening at one end thereof, nozzle means for expanding carbon dioxide into said receptacle and cooperating therewith to form snow therein, and a deflector plate overlying the opening and being con- 5 structed and arranged to cooperate with the opening to form a passageway for distributing the snow from said receptacle in a fan-shaped sheet, said nozzle means including an orifice for directng carbon dioxide against said plate for preventing the accumulation of snow thereon.

5. The combination of a receptacle having a discharge opening at one end thereof, nozzle means for difiusing-fire extinguishing medium into said receptacle'and cooperating therewith to reduce the velocity of the medium, and a deflector plate overlying the opening and being constructed and arranged to cooperate therewith to form a passageway for distributing the medium from said receptacle in a fan-shaped, sheet, said nozzle means including an orifice for directing a jet of fire extinguishing medium against said plate.

6. Fire extinguishing apparatus comprising a bowl-shaped receptacle having an opening at one end thereof, means for diflfusing fire extinguishing mediuminto said receptacle, a laterally outwardly extending flange at one side of said opening, a wall at the side opposite said flange extending beyond said opening, and a deflector extending laterally from said wall across said opening and overlying said flange to provide a slit between said deflector and said flangefor discharging a substantially fan-shaped sheet of fire extingushing medium.

s '7. Fire extinguishing apparatus comprising a bowl-shaped receptacle having an opening at one end thereof; means for diifusing fire extinguish- 7 ing medium into said receptacle, a laterally outwardly extending flange at one side of said opening, a wall at the side opposite said flange extending beyond said opening, and a deflector ex-- tending laterally from said wall across said opening and overlying said flange to provide a slit between said deflector and said flange for discharging a substantially fan-shaped sheet of fire extinguishing medium, said flange and said deflector being constructed and arranged so that said slit is of diminishing width from the middle to the ends thereof.

8. Fire extinguishing apparatus comprising a bowl-shaped receptacle having an opening at one end thereof, means for diffusing fire extinguishing medium into said receptacle, a semi-circular laterally outwardly extending flange at one side of said opening, a wall at the side opposite said flange extending beyond said opening, and a semi-circular deflector extending laterally from said wall across said opening and overlying said flange to provide a slit between said deflector and said flange for discharging a substantially fan-- shaped sheet of fire extinguishing medium.

9. Fire extinguishing apparatus comprising a tinguishing medium,

through said bottom wall for diffusing fire extinguishing medium,

receptacle having a lower bowl-shaped portion provided with a bottom wall and having an upper tubular discharge portion flared outwardly at two opposite sides andformed with an opening opposite said bottom wall. a semi-circular laterally outwardly projectingfl a/nge extending from one outwardly flared side to the other, a wall portion at the side'of said upper portion opposite the middle of said flange extending inwardly and upwardly beyond saido'pening, a semi-circular deflector extending laterally from said wall portion across said opening and overlying said flange in superimposed relation to provide a slit between said deflector and said flange for discharging a substantially fan-shaped sheet of fire exand means extending middle of said flange extending inwardly and upwardly beyond said opening, a semi-circular deflector extending laterally from said wall portion across said opening and overlying 'said flange 'in superimposed relation to provide a slit be- Y tween said deflector and said flange for discharging a substantially fan-shaped sheet of fire exand means extending through said bottom wall for diffusing flre extinguishing niedium into said bowl-shaped portion, said flangeand said deflector diverging with respect toeach other from said wall portion so that said slit is'of diminishing width from the middle to the ends thereof.

' J CARL W.- FRESE.

THOMAS P. SCOTT.

REFERENCES crrnn I I The following references are of record in the tile 01 this patent:

UNITED s'ra'rns ra'rnu'rs Date Number Name 562395 Hagmann June 16, 1896 1,507,850 Franzen Sept. 2, 1924 2,125,057 Wood- July 26, 1938' 2,183,208" Allen et al Dec. 12, 1939 2,354,611 Quarfoot July 25, 1944 2,357,039 Williamson Aug. 29, 1944 

